SOWETAN | Listen to residents’ cries

The Johannesburg City Council building. File photo.
The Johannesburg City Council building. File photo.
Image: Veli Nhlapo

Public consultation ought to mean that those whose opinions are sought before changes that affect them are made, at least deserve to be listened to.

Earlier this year, the City of Joburg embarked on a public comment process seeking residents’ input on its draft of property rates policy. This process culminated in the implementation of the new tariffs which took effect last month.

However, as this newspaper reported yesterday, lobby group – the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, has threatened legal action against what it terms “extremely high” rates increases. In its challenge to the new rates through a petition, the civil body cited the city’s failure to take into account objections lodged by residents in March.

“They should have looked at the objections that came in and realised they were based on extremely high increases,” said the organisation’s CEO Wayne Duvenage.

Other organisations including the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) have, however, described the new rates policy as “pro-poor”. This was because according to Sanco, any property that was below R350,000 would be exempted from paying rates and will benefit households with people reliant on social grants.

Given the city’s precarious financial situation in recent years, it was to be expected that the council would attempt to increase its revenue base by taxing those who can afford to pay more for services. But hard-pressed residents who are already reeling from the harsh economic factors such as the cost of living are justifiably pushing back against this. There is no doubt also that there has been a deterioration of services in the city overtime which makes this even a bitter pill to swallow for those who continue to pay for services not delivered.

The clearest indicator of this has been an ongoing infrastructure decay which, according to the lobby groups, have impacted property values negatively.

The city would therefore do well to listen to its residents’ cries and improve service delivery before considering charging higher rates than normal in the current economic climate.

That the council doesn’t seem overly concerned about this and righting its wrongs is deeply troubling and betrays the essence of seeking public input on policy proposals. The city should address this problem and not further ratepayers' money by seeking to defend its decision when challenged in court.

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